Boredom: we hate it. The internet cures it. Or at least distracts us from it. Anyway, ploomy.com compiled a list of 50 websites that are entertaining, useful, or just nifty. I’m sure most of you have your staple websites where you go to alleviate boredom, but I thought there might be one or two on this list that would be worth checking out. The list was compiled in 2008 I believe, so keep that in mind. Back then, not EVERYBODY knew about Twitter. Just click the link above and have a look, you might find a worthy distraction.

Also, since one of the websites shut down in late 2008, they had to cross it off the list. I’ll fill that gap with incredibox, which lets you mix and match a bunch of vocal sounds together to create a tune. Doesn’t sound that great, but it’s pretty cool (at least for the first 5-10 minutes).

Hey guys, do you find bachelorhood to be socially humiliating? Do you wish you could have a perfect virtual girlfriend who’d interact with you on Facebook and validate your fake relationship? Yeah, neither do I. BUT! In case you do, or you see the enormous potential this has for humor, here’s an interesting startup to keep your eye on.

Cloud Girlfriend is a startup internet company with, it seems, one service. They allow users to create a virtual girlfriend that will interact with them via social media such as Facebook. This service has yet to launch, but the website is taking emails to create an “invite list”.

There is concern, however, that the startup will only end up treading water. One major obstacle to building momentum for this company is the fact that Facebook strictly prohibits computer-controlled accounts…so I guess we’ll see if they manage to get around that or become successful without Facebook. Anyway, it’s an amusing idea for a business and apparently this type of idea has been successful in Japan. I think it has incredible potential here (but more as a source of amusement than anything).

I came across something interesting while cruising the internet today. While reading an article about Zynga (the company behind Farmville, Cityville, etc.), I discovered that this company does more than just create hopelessly addicted gamers on facebook.

Zynga apparently uses their games to gather donations for charities. According to AFP, that amount exceeds $5 million. Most recently, Zynga sought to aid the relief efforts being aimed at the tragedy in Japan. Donations were gathered via user purchases of virtual goods in games such as Farmville. In just 36 hours, Zynga raised $1 million for Save The Children’s Japan relief efforts. This fund raising model also contributed $1.5 million to the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti last year.

I’m not a fan of Zynga’s games, but I appreciate how well they’ve been able to integrate charity fundraising into their business model. Given how easy it is for them to gather donations for good causes, they should keep that foot forward in the future and continue their philanthropic efforts. It’s good PR for them and it makes a difference to those in need.

LinkedIn has decided to further expand their service by adding a news component. They recently announced a beta version of an enhancement to their site called LinkedIn Today. This customizable feature brings relevant news to the user and allows them to share it with their network.

LinkedIn seems to be doing its best to make sure this enhancement is as useful as possible to their users. There are 22 industries (with more to be added later) for users to follow, as well as 77 more specific sources such as The Wall Street Journal and HollywoodReporter.com. Users can see who is sharing which articles, what their contacts are saying about it, and can even narrow the view of article comments. Articles can be saved in a folder for later reading and email alerts can be chosen for selected industries. On top of all this (and the improvements planned for the future), LinkedIn Today is tightly integrated with Twitter and StumbleUpon, allowing for ease of sharing updates and content with contacts.

I think the key element in LinkedIn’s success is its focus on the end user’s needs. This new feature does just that by homing in on relevancy through a variety of tools; it brings the user timely and useful information. LinkedIn Today will, in my opinion, be a popular addition among LinkedIn’s many users.

One of the many benefits of the internet that came to mind recently is that it helps users experience other cultures. Of particular interest to me is the realm of media, such as anime and manga. Many of you are probably familiar with those terms, but simply put anime and manga can be thought of as Japanese cartoons and comic books respectively. Before the internet, I can’t imagine it was very easy to experience either of those. Television is where I first saw anime, and from there I took my search online.

Because of the internet, I can purchase hard copies of hundreds of different volumes of anime and manga. This is all well and good, but it has obvious limits and drawbacks. What I appreciate is the fact that there are websites I can visit where such content is given to me immediately and at no charge. I can browse and read hundreds of manga anywhere I have access to a computer. Anime that are on a weekly release schedule are available to me the day of or after they are released in Japan. My exposure to this area of Japanese culture is part of the reason I am pursuing the language and would not have been possible (or at least nearly as convenient) without the unique business arena that is the internet.

Websites like mangareader.net bring an enormous selection to users, and the site is pretty user-friendly. If you are a fan of foreign media, there is a wealth of it available at the click of a button.